Demon's Crest
Demon's Crest (Demon's Blazon in Japan) is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published in 1994 for the Super NES video game console. The game is part of the Gargoyle's Quest sub-series of the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise. It was produced by series creator Tokuro Fujiwara. Story Long ago, there were two realms. One was ruled by humans. And the other -- the demons. One day six magical stones fell from the sky. Each one carrying power over the elements and even time itself. The bearer of these six Crests would wield inconceivable power. When all six crests are united, the Crest of Infinity is said to appear and give the bearer unimaginable power. In the demon realm, civil war erupted. The red demon fought with malice and vanquished all foes. His name was Firebrand. Having collected five of the crests, Firebrand, also known as Red Arremer, challenged the demon dragon Somulo for the final crest, the Crest of Heaven. After a long and desperate battle, Firebrand defeated the dragon and gained the final crest. This came at a cost, though, as he was critically wounded. Using Firebrand's moment of weakness, the Arch Demon Phalanx attacked him and stole all of the crests for himself, with the exception of the Crest of Fire, which was broken into six pieces. Firebrand, containing only one shard, was shamed...for now... With the power of the crests, Phalanx proclaims himself the new ruler of both the demon realm and the human world. Having fallen back to earth in the coliseum where he fought the dragon earlier, Firebrand is forced to destroy Somulo for good to survive, and then sets on a quest to reclaim the Crests and prevent Phalanx from gain the Crest of Infinity, which would render the Arch Demon invincible. Having slayed the demons who guarded the crests, as well as General Arma, Phalanx's right hand, Firebrand goes on to engage the Arch Demon. Firebrand succeeds in besting Phalanx and, finally, is able to reclaim all six crests. This is not the end of his quest, however, as a new enemy emerges in the form of the mighty Dark Demon. After a long and tedious battle, Firebrand emerges victorious. Regaining his former glory, Firebrand realizes that his true power is not derived from the crests, and disposes of all of them. He then returns to the Demon Realm, hoping to find a true warrior with whom he could once again taste glory of battle. Gameplay thumb|300px|right|''Intro''The gameplay is a mix of standard platforming, with mild RPG elements. Each level can be played multiple times, and often the player has to revisit a level with new Crests to access areas, items and bosses that he or she could not before. As you progress Firebrand will gain more health. The player collects different Crests (Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Time and Heaven) which, when equipped during the game, allows Firebrand to gain different abilities and alter his appearance. Also, the player can collect potions, talismans and spells. Life Extensions Defeat Somulo. Defeat the Hippogriff '''and headbutt the stone statue. Behind wall in '''Colosseum. Bustable wall in the Tower. Within a pot in the Catacombs. Inside one of the skullpiles in the Boneyard. Defeat Belth. Cutting through vines in the Forest. Secret room in the Tidal Caverns. Defeat Scula. Bust a stone statue in Atlantis. Behind an ice-covered door in the''' Ice Palace'. Destroy 25 skulls before the time runs out in '''Trio the Pago's' shop. Headbutt the bell in Phalanx's Tower. Urns Urns are used to store potions. They can be purchased or found throughout the world. There are five urns to collect. One - Located at the Gorge in the Colosseum. Two - Behind a wall in the Tower. Three - Between cuttable vines in the Forest. Four - Underwater in the Reservoir. Five - On top of the high platform on the Mountain. Vellums Vellums contain spells. There are five vellums to collect. One - Break stone statue in the Colosseum. Two - Behind hidden wall in the Catacombs. Three - Under bridge in the Hidden Tower. Four - Behind wall in the Tidal Caverns. Five - Top of high skullpile on the Mountain. Spells Shadow '- Costs ten gold points. Strikes closed and weak enemies. '''Hold '- Costs 20 gold points. Stops nearby enemies. 'Imp '- Costs 25 gold points. Summons an imp. 'Shock '- Costs 50 gold points. Causes an earthquake. 'Death '- Costs 80 gold points. Summons death apon all enemies on the screen. Also works on some bosses. Potions 'Mercury '- Costs six gold points. Teleports Firebrand back to the beginning of the level. 'Sulfer '- Costs ten gold points. Teleports Firebrand to the world map 'Herb '- Costs 25 gold points. Restores five health points. 'Elixir '- Costs 100 gold points. Resurrects Firebrand with five health points 'Ginseng '- Costs 140 gold points. Restores full health points. Talismans 'Crown '- Located in the '''Hidden Tower. Increases chance of pots and enemies to drop GP. Skull '''- Located in the '''Forest. Increases chance of pots and enemies to drop health. Armor '''- Located in the '''Ice Palace. Halves damage taken. Fang '''- Located at '''Phalanx's Tower. Increases damage caused. Hand '''- Located in the '''Reservoir. Increases rate of fire. The Crest of Fire Red in color. Ruling over flame, the crest allows the owner to control fire. The crest of fire has been shattered and must be put back together. The possessed shard contains the general ability of pyromancing. The four remaining pieces complete the crest. Fire '- First available power. Low damage. Also lights torches '''Buster '- Must defeat '''Ovununu to attain. Medium damage. Breaks brick walls. Tornado '''- Must defeat '''Flame Lord to attain. Low damage. Creates platforms. Claw '''- Must defeat '''Flier to attain. Medium damage. Ability to climb walls. Demon Fire '''- Must defeat '''Grewon to attain. This is the most powerful fire in the realm. After collecting all Fire Crest pieces the Fire Crest becomes whole and gives Firebrand's fire high damage. Crests The Crest of Earth '''- Yellow in color. Ruling over the earth, the crest gives great strength to its owner. Must defeat '''General Arma (first battle). Transforms Firebrand into Ground Gargoyle and charge into stone statues to break them and lift heavy objects. The Crest of Air '''- Violet in color. Ruling over the sky, the crest enables the owner control of the wind. Transforms Firebrand into '''Aerial Gargoyle. Defeat General Arma (second battle). Ability to fly horizontally and vertically. Able to cut vines with wind blast. The Crest of Water '''- Blue in color. Ruling over the ocean, the crest allows the owner to swim beneath the seas. Transforms Firebrand into '''Tidal Gargoyle. Defeat Crawler. Gains the ability to swim and breathe underwater. The Crest of Time '''- Green in color. Ruling over the past, the crest enables the owner to go back in time. Transforms Firebrand into '''Legendary Gargoyle. Defeat General Arma '(third battle). Firebrand's skin becomes like iron and he now takes half the damage from attacks. Blasts have high damage. '''The Crest of Heaven '- White in color. Ruling over Heaven, the crest bestows the powers of the Heavens. Can't be used by Firebrand, because he never posseses it for too long (it's owned by Phalanx and the Dark Demon). '''The Crest of Infinity - '''Golden in color, reflecting the bearer (purple Firebrand: purple crest in inventory).Has the power of all other forms except that it can't light torches nor increase strength in water and swimming through 2 blocks like the T.Gargoyle (uses 3 vertical blocks). 13:32, July 12, 2012 (UTC)Wiseman 13:32, July 12, 2012 (UTC) Bosses '''Somulo - The player faces this zombie dragon at the very start of the game, in a gladiatorial arena where Firebrand is forced to fight for the crowd's enjoyment. Somulo attacks by spitting fireballs and can be damaged by shots to the head. Once it is slain, it looks as though escape from the arena is possible, but it will poke its head out for one last fight. Hippogriff - The player fights several of these throughout the game. Each is found in statue form until it is smashed. The awakened hippogriff attacks by flying into the player and firing trios of bladelike feathers. General Arma - A birdlike gargoyle bounty hunter loyal to Phalanx, players battle Arma a total of three times. Each battle he grows stronger and attacks with a greater variety of moves including energy blasts and whirlwinds. Belth - The boss of the graveyard, this large skeleton lurks beneath a field of skulls and attacks with the massive blade-arm that it also uses as a crutch. He has no projectile attacks, but can dash from one end of the screen to the other and has an impressive reach. Ovnunu - Beneath the graveyard lies a shaft inhabited by this boss. Ovnunu consists of an undulating mass of jelly filled with eyeballs and a larger, tentacled central eye. It attacks by sending out its many flying eyeballs to run into the player. When all of them have been destroyed, the core will emerge and attack by squirting acid from its pupil. Once the core is destroyed, the jelly will shrivel up. Flamelord - A being of pure fire, Flamelord can be found deep in the forest, burning everything around him. His primary form is of a stationary flaming skeleton that forms small fiery birds to send out after the player. It can dash across the screen in a cat-like shape, and eventually changes into a floating trio of skulls that drop fire everywhere. Scula - This creepy crustacean can be found in an watery grotto. It is actually two individual monsters: a "head" creature that detaches from the "body" creature to throw it around. Crawler - Crawler is nothing but a giant, shuffling heap of sloppy carrion vulnerable only in its seldom-opened eyes. It attacks by releasing two kinds of smaller zombies from the holes down its back. One variety floats and emerges on its own while the legless, crawling type is pulled out and thrown at the player by Crawler itself. It will also pound the ground to rain dangerous debris down from the ceiling. When destroyed, crawler leaves behind a small heap of miscellaneous bones. Flier - This human-faced insect flies in circles and attacks by throwing its claws as boomerangs. Holothurion - This giant water-snail doesn't move, but its breathing causes the water in the room to swirl around. Aside from pulling the player all over the place, toxic bubbles are released into the current from the creature's shell. Grewon - A feline monster with a high-pitched cry, found in both the ice palace and final level. It attacks with icy breath and by leaping. When hit, it glows green and becomes temporarily invulnerable. Phalanx - The arch demon Phalanx, presently in charge of both the human and demon realms, who almost had killed Firebrand after his fight with the demon dragon, Somulo. Phalanx used the chance to strike with an energy ball that badly hurt Firebrand, taking all the crests except the Fire crest, seeing as how Firebrand was broken during the battle with Somulo. Phalanx was sure that no one could stop him in conquering all the realms and enslaving the Human World. His first form attacks with energy balls and forces the player into a water-filled arena. His second massive form doesn't move, but attacks with an assortment of deadly projectiles and only his head can be damaged. To make matters worse the player must fight this form over boiling lava, on floating platforms that repeatedly disintegrate as they collide with Phalanx's body. Dark Demon - An optional boss, and only accessible if players have collected every crest. Dark Demon has two forms, switching between one and the other: a giant, three-headed floating skeleton, and a stationary skeleton-fallen angel hybrid. In its first form it drifts around the room throwing out whirling claws and releasing atom-like spheres that follow the player forever; it also causes a rain of blood every now and then. In its second form it keeps throwing whirling claws, while also shoots spheres of black energy that turn the walls and floor of the room into spikes. Additionally, it can cause rocks to fall from the ceiling in both forms. Credits (or lack thereof) Though no in-game credits exist for this game (instead featuring a "cast roll" of the game's bosses and central characters), the album Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero reveals that the game's soundtrack was handled by Toshihiko Horiyama and sound effects were done by Ippo Yamada in their respective profile sections. Gallery Image:CrestSomulo.png|''Somulo'' Image:CrestHippogriff.png|''Hippogriff'' Image:CrestArma.png|''General Arma'' Image:Belth.png|''Belth'' Image:Ovnunu.png|''Ovnunu'' Image:Scula.png|''Scula'' Image:CrestCrawler.png|''Crawler'' Image:DCFlier.png|''Flier'' Image:Holothurion.png|''Holothurion'' Image:CrestGrewon.png|''Grewon'' Image:Phalanx.png|''Phalanx'' Sprites Box Art and Merchandise Image:CrestJapan.png|''Japan'' Image:CrestCoverScan.png|''U.S.'' Image:CrestEurope.png|''Europe'' Image:CrestGuidebook.png|Keibunsha Guidebook External Links *BOGLEECH's page *YouTube preview *GameFAQs page *8 Bit Horse's page Category:Ghosts 'n Goblins Games Category:Horror Games Category:SNES Games